Friend of the Heart
by Emmy1
Summary: Cho struggles to cope with the loss of Cedric. Enter Harry. Can he help her and could there be something more to their new friendship? Please read & review!! This is a H/C... Chapter 3 is up! ^_^!!
1. Friend of the Heart

All characters belong to J.K Rowling, of course.  
  
  
  
Friend of the Heart  
  
Cho looked across the lake. The sharp wind whipped her hair across her face. Silently she shed her robes, revealing a thin, silver garment underneath and stepped to the edge. And looked down. The water was a deep black. She could see swirls of ink stirring in the water. Cho looked up at the sky but all she saw was a mass of grey cloud and fog. She shivered as a chilly wind blew about her. And she took a step forward .  
  
*******  
  
"Harry! Wake up!" Ron shook his friend.  
  
"Huh?" said Harry groggily as he shook the hair out of his eyes.  
  
Harry was disgruntled at Ron for having woken him up. He had been having a wonderful dream. He was playing quidditch against Ravenclaw but for some reason Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker was on his side. And the other players sort of faded away and -  
  
"Harry! Are you listening to me?" Ron shook him again. "Seriously, Harry, I thought you would have found that amusing."  
  
"Found what amusing?" Hermione was walking towards them with her arms full of parchment and quills and under her arm she was carrying a very heavy, leather-bound book. "Found what amusing, Ron? If your still going on about that incident yesterday, I'll.. I'll." said Hermione going slightly red.  
  
"Come on, Hermione. It wasn't that bad," said Harry who had finally woken up and was trying to neaten himself up about.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well, why don't you try having the contents of a cauldron with the makings of a Swelling Solution in it poured over you?" said Hermione furiously. "Then we'll see how bad it was. And I missed out on a whole night of study because I was up in that hospital wing. Madam Pompfry wouldn't let me bring this book in." she said holding up the book.  
  
"Well, I can see why ," said Ron. The book was practically falling apart and didn't look like it was the most hygienic thing which could be brought into a hospital wing. "Besides, I don't see what good it would have done you anyway."  
  
"Yeah," said Harry, "I mean, your fingers were so swollen you wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway."  
  
"You too are so insensitive," retorted Hermione huffily and with that spread out the parchment, opened her book and began scratching noted with her quill.  
  
Ron looked at Harry and grinned. Then he stood up and said, "Come on, Harry. I'm dying of boredom here. Why don't we go play some quidditch or something?"  
  
"Great weather for playing quidditch," said Hermione cynically.  
  
"The Slytherin's are all having their brooms upgraded so there'll be no one on the field," continued Ron, ignoring Hermione.  
  
"Yeah, okay. I'll go get my Firebolt from the broom shed and I'll meet you there," replied Harry.  
  
"You left your broom in the broom shed? I thought you didn't trust leaving it there?" Hermione looked up from her notes.  
  
"Yeah, but I took it down this morning because we were practicing and I accidentally left it there," said Harry.  
  
And with that he rushed out of the common room. Harry walked hastily to down the corridor and outside towards the broom shed. He had to make sure that his Firebolt was okay. He unlocked the broom shed and let out a sigh of relief. His Firebolt stood dutifully in the corner where he had left it. Harry grabbed it and headed out the door. He then made his way toward the quidditch pitch. He crossed the garden and rounded the corner when he saw a figure across the lake.  
  
Harry looked closer. It was Cho. What the hell was she doing? She was standing at the edge of the lake in this freezing weather. What was she doing..?  
  
Then it hit Harry. "CHO!" he yelled across the lake.  
  
He swung onto his broom, kicked off the ground and flew towards her. "Cho! No! What are you doing!" he reached the other side of the lake and jumped off his broom. He ran to her and pulled her back away from the edge. "Cho."  
  
She turned around and looked up at him. "Harry?" she said softly. Her eyes were faintly red and she was shivering slightly. She turned and looked back at the lake and sunk silently to the ground.  
  
"Come on, let's get out of here," said Harry reaching down to pull her up. He grasped her ice-cold hands and pulled her up. Then he reached down and picked up her robes, slung them over his shoulder and picked up his broom. "Wait."  
  
  
  
Well, what do you think? It kinda sux but I was like half asleep when I wrote it. Nad besides, it's my first fanfic (yeah, that's my excuse). Well, feed back would be good. Should I bother uploading chapter 2?  
  
-Emmy 


	2. Chapter Two

All characters belong to J.K Rowling, of course.  
  
  
  
Sorry this took so long but I had yearlies and everything so I didn't have time to go online.  
  
Well, I don't like this chapter (actually, I hate it) but I don't really know how to fix it up (well, to be honest, I really couldn't be bothered! ^_^!)  
  
Oh, and Faraway, thanks for the critical comments! I'm not very good at detail and your comments were really helpful! ^_^! Thanks heaps!  
  
  
  
Friend of the Heart  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Harry looked up. Cho was kneeling on the damp ground, looking far out towards the sky. She turned her head and looked up at Harry. "I.I'm sorry. It's just, I don't know what to do anymore. I feel so .so blank." she began.  
  
Harry felt awkward. Is she talking about Cedric? He didn't know what to do. Instead he unslung her robes from his shoulder. "Uh, what do you want me to do with these?" said Harry. Despite what was happening, Harry still went a bit red. He had been so anxious before that he hadn't realised that she was wearing nothing but a filmy drapery.  
  
Cho didn't appear to hear him so Harry tried to drop them inconspicuously around her when he noticed a brown leather book fall out. He picked it up and made a mental note to give it back when he got her inside. She looked up at him and smiled sadly. "Thanks, Harry."  
  
"For what?" he asked, a bit uncertainly.  
  
"For bringing Cedric's body back. It. it must have been hard and." she trailed off.  
  
"I had to," said Harry softly. The thing he had been fighting on and off for ages with suddenly broke out. "It was my fault. I told him to take the Cup with me. I should have listened to him. I knew it had been too easy getting through the tournament. I knew there had to be some reason for my name coming out of the Goblet."  
  
"No, it's not your fault at all. Don't blame yourself because that's not fair. None of it was your fault but you still brought him back," said Cho quietly. "You better get inside. It's cold out here and you'll catch a cold or something."  
  
"You'd better get inside before you catch a cold or something," said Harry.  
  
"I. I want to stay a little longer. You'd better go now. And. well. goodbye Harry."  
  
"Cho."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Cedric wouldn't have wanted this," began Harry softly, "He wouldn't have wanted you to waste your life for him. You know he would have wanted you to be happy, no matter what happens." Harry looked at Cho.  
  
"Wouldn't you be upset if someone you loved or cared about shattered their life all because of you?" Harry looked at her again, then gently lifted her up. "Come on, let's go inside."  
  
************  
  
1.1.1.1 Well, chapter 2 ended up kinda short. Hope you liked it. I have chapter 3, should I bother posting it or should it end here? I'm not very good at ending things.  
  
1.1.1.2 Oh, and please tell me how I can fix this up. Give me ideas or tips or something. (if someone helps me, I might be bothered to fix it up but otherwise, I'm too lazy -terrible I know, but I can't help my personality! ^_^!)  
  
1.1.1.3 - Emmy  
  
1.1.1.4 


	3. Chapter Three

All characters belong to J.K Rowling, of course.  
  
  
  
Well here's chapter three. Why is it that whenever you post something, the punctuation always stuffs up? I have absolutely no idea what the 1.1.1.1. and 1.1.1.2 were doing in the end of the last chapter. And in the last chapter, what were all the repeated words with full stops between them - they were supposed to be "dot dot dots" and when I typed it up, they were. I have them in this chapter too so I hope they work this time. And the centring never works either. Oh yeah,  
  
Ronald J Whalen: Thanks for your '2 cents'! I'll definitely have Snape in the story (he's so cool and funny!) and this will probably turn out as a Ron/Hermione too!  
  
Anyway, on with the story. . .  
  
  
  
Friend of the Heart  
  
Chapter Three  
  
  
  
Harry half dragged, half carried Cho inside. They entered the empty hall and Harry lowered her gently to the ground. "Uh, are you okay? Do you want to go to the hospital wing or something?" he asked.  
  
"No, I'm fine. Tbanks Harry. You better go now. Uh, I think you had a previous arrangement," she said nodding behind him.  
  
Ron was walking with a rather forced stride towards Harry. "What happened to you?" he exclaimed, "I was waiting a full forty minutes for you. Did you have to sterilise your broom or something after leaving it in the broom shed?"  
  
Harry turned around. Ron was standing in front of him. Ron looked down and then saw Cho. "Ah."  
  
"Very romantic, Harry," he said pretending to be deeply offended while trying not to smile. Harry looked up at him, the colour rising in his face.  
  
"Leave me waiting out on the quidditch pitch while you go off. . ." Ron looked down at Cho again. "Uh, Harry, what's wrong? Is she. . . is she alright?" he said uncertainly.  
  
"I don't know," mumbled Harry, still red. He didn't really know what to do. "I think I'll just take her to the hospital wing or something," he said. He felt a bit uncomfortable and silently wished Ron would leave. Ron got the gist and said to Harry "I think you should. I'll go now, meet you later," and left.  
  
He walked away and Cho shifted and stood up properly. "No, I'm fine. I'll just go to my common room - I don't need to go to the hospital wing," she said.  
  
"You really should go to the hospital wing. Even if you feel fine, which I'm sure you don't. Come on," said Harry, decisively.  
  
"No, really. I don't want to go. I'll just go to bed."  
  
Harry looked at her. She had a resolute and slightly stubborn tone, while still being polite. He got the feeling that she did things her own way. He smiled. "Fine, you win. But you have to let me accompany you to your common room, then," he said.  
  
Cho smiled at him. "Sure." And they walked slowly toward the Ravenclaw common room. They arrived at a picture of a pale woman with silver hair and wearing white robes. She was leaning on a tall pole on the side of the picture, fast asleep. "Well thanks, Harry. For everything," said Cho.  
  
Harry blushed again. "Yeah. Okay then, take care of yourself. And um, if you ever want to talk or something, you know, just ask," he said. He looked at Cho. "Are you sure you're alright?"  
  
Cho smiled again. "Yes. Thanks again, Harry. See you round then," and with that she turned around and woke up the woman in the picture. "Yes?" she said sleepily, not even opening her eyes.  
  
"Phoenix Song," she said.  
  
The woman swung open the picture and Harry caught a glimpse of the Ravenclaw common room inside. Blue carpet, thick velvet hanging and a warm, inviting fire crackled in the fireplace. Cho turned her head. "You better go now," she said.  
  
"Yeah. Get inside and then I'll go," replied Harry.  
  
Cho looked at him and smiled. "Alright. See you," she said and climbed through the portrait hole. The picture swung shut and Harry was left standing in the corridor. He turned and began to walk back to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
**********  
  
Harry entered the common room to see Hermione and Ron standing in the centre of the room, shouting at each other. "You'll never learn anything like that! If you didn't spend so much time mucking around on the quidditch pitch, maybe you'd have time to do your own homework. It's for your own good, can't you see that?!" shouted Hermione.  
  
"Why do you care if I never learn anything? Why would you care what I did with my life? It's not your choice, it's mine so why should you care?!" Ron shouted back.  
  
The whole room went silent. Hermione slowly looked up at Ron. Then she ran out of the common room. Ron looked uncomfortable. He tried to shrug it off but he glanced out the corridor, where Hermione had ran off to. Harry walked over to him. "You should go find her," he said softly.  
  
Ron looked up. "Why should I?" he said stubbornly. "It's true and it's not my fault," but he still looked uncomfortable. Then he walked out, down the opposite corridor to Hermione. Harry sighed and went upstairs to his dormitory.  
  
Harry sat down on his four-poster bed when he felt something uncomfortable sticking into him. He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a brown leather book. It was Cho's. He had forgotten to give it back to her. Harry stared at the cover. It read: 'My Diary. C.C.'.  
  
Harry looked at it for a while. Then he picked it up and then dropped it again onto his bed. He wouldn't read it. He couldn't do something like that. But the book had landed open on his bed. He tried to shut it before he read anything but then something caught his eye. He saw his own name written down. He picked it up and opened out to the page. No, he couldn't do this! He slammed it shut again. Harry stared at the cover. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him and he opened it up to the page he had seen and began to read. . .  
  
*********  
  
A/N: Well, this chapter is still kinda short but at least it's longer than the other two. I like cutting it off in weird places to build up suspense. So, what'd you think of this one? I don't really know - I never read through anything I write (esp. English essays) again cos it always makes me feel so bad, like: "Did I write this?". You know. . .  
  
I guess that's a really bad thing to do cos it means I never build up editing skills. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! ^_^! - Emmy 


	4. IMPORTANT: Author's Note

Friend of the Heart  
  
  
  
Author's Note:  
  
This isn't the next chapter, this is just a note to say that I am still alive and I do intend to finish this story. It's just been temporarily suspended. All I have of the next chapter is Cho's diary entry so I don't want to put it until I finished it but if you don't want to wait very long I guess I could post it. We've just finished our six-week christmas/summer break here and it's back to school for me so now I'll be able to get my brain working again and finish the next chapter. Anyway, thanks for being patient (more like 'oh, I'd forgotten about that story) and I promise I'll try and finish it sometime, hopefully soon!^_^! – Emmy 


End file.
